1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to safety devices for school buses, public works vehicles and other vehicles which must make periodic stops in traffic to load and unload passengers or workers. More particularly, the invention relates to a safety flag mounted in cooperation with a school bus or other vehicle and designed to project from the carrying vehicle to serve as a warning to motorists behind the vehicle. In a first embodiment, the safety flag is caused to extend from and retract into a flag storage pipe attached to a conventional safety stop arm carried by the bus, by operation of a cable linkage system activated by the stop arm. In a second embodiment, the flag and flag rod are adapted to selectively extend from and retract into a hood or fender-mounted flag storage pipe by operation of an endless cable, one leg of which extends through a portion of the pipe, the endless cable carried by a pair of spaced pulleys activated by a cooperating motor and switch system.
The safety flag of this invention is design to slow or stop the flow of traffic around a school bus, public works truck or vehicle, or other vehicle which is required to make periodic stops in traffic, in order to enhance the safety of the occupants of the vehicle as they enter and leave. When extended, the safety flag projects from a flag storage pipe cooperating with the vehicle and warns motorists behind the bus or vehicle of the danger to persons entering or departing when the vehicle is stopped.
A major cause of accidents involving school children who ride to and from school in parish or county-operated school buses is the striking of children by motorists who attempt to pass the bus after the latter has come to a complete stop and the passengers are loading or unloading. In spite of the conventional manual or automatic stop arm mechanisms which open when the bus is stopped to display the familiar octagon-shaped stop signs, impatient motorist sometimes persist in driving around and passing the bus, sometimes striking a child walking into the path of the moving vehicle from the front of the bus. The safety flag of this invention is designed to at least minimize this hazard by extending a flag into or near the lane of traffic adjacent the bus or vehicle, to act as an additional warning to motorists following the bus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known in the prior art for enhancing the safety of motor vehicles. An early "Direction Signal for Automobiles" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,542,152, dated June 16, 1925 and includes an arm pivotally attached to the vehicle and designed to swing upwardly responsive to activation by the driver, to a position where motorists behind the vehicle can observe the direction of turn. Another "Automobile Signal" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,108, dated July 9, 1929, to D. D. Van Osdol. The Van Osdol signal includes a box-like structure with a plurality of spaces which can be illuminated from within. The structure is designed to present either a left or a right-hand signal to motorists located behind the vehicle, in order to indicate to the trailing motorists which direction the leading vehicle will turn. U.S. Pat. No. 2,281,171, dated April 28, 1942, to C. Ringwald, discloses a "Signal for Motor Vehicles" which includes a stop arm hingedly attached to the side of a school bus or other vehicle and manipulated by a lever inside the bus to indicate when the vehicle will stop. This device is a forerunner of the conventional stop arm devices which are currently used on many school buses across the country, one variation of which is manufactured by SMC Specialty Manufacturing Company, of Charlotte, N.C. A "Signal" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,324,614, dated July 20, 1943, to T. L. Dalton, which signal is mounted on the side of a truck or other vehicle and telescopes upwardly, with a flag and light located at the upper end of the top telescoping member, in order to indicate when the truck has stopped.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety flag for enhancing the safety of children and other passengers of school buses and other vehicles which are required to periodically stop and load and unload passengers safety flag is characterized by a flag rod and flag normally deployed in a fixed flag storage pipe and adapted to extend from the pipe when the vehicle is stopped to warn trailing motorists not to pass the vehicle.
Another object of this invention is to provide in one embodiment, a new and improved safety flag for mounting on the stop arm of a school bus, public works vehicle or other vehicle which is equipped with a conventional stop arm warning device and is required to periodically stop in traffic. The safety flag includes a flag mounted on one end of a flag rod positioned inside a flag storage pipe attached to the stop arm, with the opposite end of the flag rod secured to the cable in a cable linkage system cooperating with the stop arm. The flag and flag rod are caused to extend from the flag storage pipe when the stop arm is deployed in functional configuration and to retract inside the flag storage pipe and the flag storage pipe constrained to fold along side the bus, when the stop arm is closed in retracted configuration.
Another object of this invention is to provide in a first preferred embodiment, a new and improved safety flag for protecting passengers during loading and unloading of school buses and other vehicles, which safety flag cooperates with an existing conventional stop arm mounted to the traffic side of the carrying vehicle. The safety flag includes a flexible flag rod having a flag attached to one end, the flag rod slidably disposed inside a flag storage pipe attached to the stop arm, and a guide pulley and cable linkage mechanism anchored by a recoil pulley at one end, the cable extending from a fixed point of attachment on the bus around the guide pulley attached to the flag storage pipe, through a slot in the flag storage pipe and around a pivot point on the stop arm hinge to the recoil pulley. Thus, deployment of the conventional stop arm in functional configuration outwardly from the side of the bus causes the flag rod and flag to extend from the flag storage pipe and retraction of the stop arm against the side of the bus or vehicle results in retraction of the flag and flag rod inside the flag storage pipe and location of the flag storage pipe along side the carrying vehicle.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide, in a second embodiment, a new and improved hood-mounted safety flag which includes a flag storage pipe secured to the hood, bumper or frontal area of a bus or vehicle and a flag rod and flag combination normally disposed in the flag storage pipe. One end of the flag rod is attached to one leg of an endless cable extending through a portion of the pipe, the endless cable carried by a pair of pulleys, one of which pulleys is driven, in order to selectively extend the flag rod and flag from the storage pipe when the vehicle is stopped and retract the flag rod and flag into the pipe when the vehicle is in motion.